Former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has accused Nigeria’s National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, of ordering his abduction, alleging that security operatives acted on instructions conveyed through intercepted phone calls.

El-Rufai made the allegations during an interview on Arise News.

Clarifying earlier reports, he insisted that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission was not responsible for the attempted arrest.

“What happened? Yeah, but I want to add something. Yes, because my lawyers issued a statement after that, mentioning EFCC. I want to say very clearly, it wasn’t the EFCC,” he said.

“Okay, it was the DSS. Right. But the DSS were procured to abduct me by the ICPC, that has never communicated with me ever."

He alleged that the Department of State Services acted at the instance of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission.

According to him, the EFCC had earlier written to him while he was outside Nigeria.

“Okay, the EFCC had written to me while I was away, saying they would like to have a chat with you over certain issues. And I replied, my lawyers replied that, well, I’m not in the country, I’m on my annual vacation. And once I know the date of return, I will let you know.”

He added that his legal team proposed a specific date for the meeting.

“And we have written to EFCC to say that, you know, I will celebrate my birthday with you. My birthday is 16 February on Monday. I will celebrate my birthday.

“I will come and see you at 10am on the 16th. So it wasn’t the EFCC. But my lawyer thought it was the EFCC, but it was not.”

El-Rufai maintained that the ICPC was behind the move to have him detained.

“Subsequently, we found out that it was the ICPC that procured the DSS to abduct me and then hand over to them. And this is a modus operandi of the ICPC that increasingly has become a personal tool of Nuhu Riba. Nuhu made the call and made the order that I must be in custody yesterday.”

Pressed on how he knew Ribadu allegedly gave the directive, he said:

“How do you know he made the call? He made the call because we listened to their calls. The government thinks that they’re the only ones that listen to calls. But we also have our ways.

“He made the call. He gave the order. And so you tapped his phone calls? Someone tapped his phone.”

He acknowledged the legal implications of tapping a phone line but defended it by alleging similar practices by authorities.

“And that technically is illegal. I know, but the government does it all the time. They listen to our calls all the time without a court order.

“But someone tapped his phone and told us that he gave the order.”

Despite the allegations, El-Rufai commended the EFCC’s conduct in the matter.

“But the EFCC, I think, has shown itself to be more professional in this particular instance. And on Monday, by the grace of God, I’ll go and see them.”

He further disclosed that the ICPC later issued a formal invitation.

“Yesterday, around 5 p.m., the ICPC finally did the right thing. Not the DSS that tried to abduct me. By bringing a letter to my house to say, we want to see you on Friday the 13th.”

According to him, his lawyer responded formally.

“My lawyer wrote back to say, guys, my client is not an idle person that has no program. He’s just waiting for a letter from anyone. We’ve received your letter.

“Now that you’ve written an invitation, you’ve had the courage to write an invitation, we’ll honor the invitation. But on Monday, we are going to the EFCC that has written before. So we’ll go there.

“After the EFCC, we’ll go to ICPC on Tuesday or Wednesday. I don’t know what the lawyer has written. So this is the current state of things, as far as we know.”

As of press time, there was no official response from the Office of the National Security Adviser, the DSS, ICPC or EFCC regarding the allegations. (The Sun)